Paddle



April 23, 1946 c. DOSKER PADDLE Filed Nov. 13, 1943 Fig b INVENTOR CoRNEups D. DOSKF-R BY (bwa mr ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 23, 1946 UNITED STATE PADDLE Cornelius D. Dosker, Louisville, Ky., assignor to Gamble Brothers, Louisville, Ky., a corporation 7 I of Kentucky Application November 13, 1943, Serial-No. 510,221

4 Claims.

I Heretofre paddles of the type commonly em ployed on canoes, life rafts and the like have been made out of a single piece of wood. This practice has a number of objections. First, it involves considerable wastage of the wood out of which the paddle is made. Second, since the paddle should combine lightness and strength, it restricts the selection of wood to a small number of usable varieties, requires the use of top grade lumber in'the usable varieties and even then often involves a sacrifice of either strength or lightness. Finally, it entails a substantial percentage of rejects due to hidden defects in the original wood blanks out of which the paddle is made.

1 It has been proposed heretofore to provide a paddle of the sectional type having a laminated blade section and a handle section which, after being separately made, are assembled and secured together. This type of paddle substantially reduces the wastage and makes possible the use of the lighter hardwoods such as ma-' hogany, poplar, and bass, and the better rades of softwoods such as spruce and fir in constructing th blade, while permitting the use of stronger hardwoodssuch as ash, White oak and hickory in constructing the handles. While a variety of such paddles have been proposed, none heretofore has been sufficiently practical to warrant extended use. The present invention relates to a novel paddle of this type.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a highly practical paddle which is inexpenive to produce, light in weight and yet so sturdily constructed as to be capable of withstanding extremely rough usage under salt water and fresh water conditions.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a blade section immediately prior to assembly with the handle section; v

Figs. 2 and -3 are transverse sections taken along line 2-2 and 3-3 respectively of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a broken perspective of the handle section immediately prior to assembly with the blade section;

Fig. 5 is a broken plan view on a smaller scale of the paddle resulting when the blade of Fig. 1 and handle of Fig. 4 are assembled, the outline of a finished blade made from such assembly being indicated thereon in dotted lines;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation exaggerated in width of a finished paddle, the outline of which appears in Fig. 5; and

Figs. '7 and 8 are transverse sections taken along lines and 8-8 respectively of Fig. 6.

The paddle illustrated comprises a blade and a handle which are separately made, then as sembled and secured together and finally finished by cutting to the desired outline, rounding edge and corners, sanding, waterproofing. etc.

The blade is of three-ply construction having a straight central ply l and two side plies 2, one on each side of the central ply. The central ply is made from veneer stock blanks of suitable length (30 /2 and width (6) and preferably of uniform thickness (1%). In conformity with goodplywood practice, the grain of the veneer runs-at right angles to the grain of the plies. Each side ply, composed of one or more pieces of wood, is tapered in thickness from one end to the other and provided with a perfectly fiat inner face and a transversely convex outer face, the transverse curvature providing maximum thickness along the longitudinal center of the ply. Both plies may be simultaneously made from /2" stock lumber of suitable length and width (30 /2" x 6") by sawing the lumber on a bias into equal halves tapering from approximately thickness at one end to approximately /s thickness at the other. The outer face of the plies may be convexly curved either before or after assembly into the blade section.

The plies 2 are assembled with the veneer interposed between their fiat faces and with their thick ends and thin ends cooperating with the veneer to form the handle end and free end, respectively, of the blade. So assembled, they may be bonded together in any suitable manner. When bonded together they cooperate to form a blade which tapers longitudinally on both sides from the handle end to the free end and the opposite outer faces of which are transversely convex. Each face of the blade is also provided, preferably after the blade is assembled and bonded, with a handle receiving elongated slot 3. Each slot 3, preferably of uniform width (1%"), extends longitudinally along the center of the blade from the handle end for a substantial distance (13") toward its free end and tapers in depth (from 1 5" to zero) in the same direction. Preferably the bottom of each slot 3 inclines upwardly from the handle end toward the free end so as to intersect and feather into the face of the blade. In other words, the bottoms of the handle-receiving slots diverse in the same direction as the slots taper in depth.

The handle 4 is made from a solid piece of wood of suitable length (43") and cross-sectional area (1%" square). Its blade or inner end is centrally slotted, as indicated at 5, to provide an elongated fork having prongs 6, which, when blade and handle are assembled together,

straddle the blade with opposed prongs 6 fitting into opposed slots 3 of the blade. The spacing between prongs 6 may beuniformbut preferably is tapered (from at the outer end to A3 at the inner end) so that the slope andspabingof The outer ends of the handle 4 and the ear 2' are recessed to receive an insert 8 which is bonded to both handles and ears for the purpose of more rigidly securing the ears to the handle. Again, in accordance withgood practice, the grain of the insert runs ati90 to the grain of the handle. Opposite facesof the handle and'ear assembly are preferably recessed as indicated at 9.

The handle and blade are assembled-by-slipping the prongs of the handle into the slots of the blade and bonding them together. It will be understood that any suitable means'of bonding any part of the paddle to any other part of the paddle may be employed. Preferably a syntheticresin type of adhesive bond is preferred and, while a variety of these may be employed,'one such-as a resinous glue, which sets at a low temperature and which normally is unafiected by fresh or salt water, is recommended. All of the foregoing dimensions are approximateand are used to illustrate, and not to limit, the invention.

After the paddle is first assembled and secured; it is cut to the outline of a finished blade, as indicated in Fig, 5 in dotted line, then the edges and corners of the paddle are: rounded and the paddle finished in any desired way.

It will be appreciated the paddle constructed in accordance with my invention is relatively inexpensive to produce. It enables the blade to be made of the lighter hardwoods and the better grades of softwoods, and permits the use of the iii.

stronger hardwoods for the handle. While the wood combinations thus made possible enable lightness and strength to be combined to a large extent, the manner in which the paddle is constructed insures minimum weight combined with maximum strength. As a consequence, the paddle meets all practical demands, since it is light enough to permit easy andquick manipulation and-yet strong enough to withstand extremely rough usage. Furthermore, the paddlecombines rigidity in the handle and resiliency in the blade without at the same time sacrificing strength at the connection between handle and blade.

While the paddle described and illustrated herein is of thecharacter commonly used on very small craft,"s'uch as canoes, it will be appreciated that theinvention may readily be applied in the 'manufacture of heavier paddles such as cars.

Having described my invention, I claim: 1. A paddle of the sectional type comprising: a laminated blade which tapers in thickness-longitudinally in the direction of its free end,each= outer face of the blade being formed with'a correspondingly arranged handle-receiving elongated slot extending, and taperingin depth. longitudinally toward the free end of the blade; and

a handle having a free end and a blade 'end and being provided at the blade end with an elongated fork to straddle the blade with each prong of the fork extending into, and't'aperingin the same direction as, the slots.-

2. The paddle of claim 1 wherein: the-bottoms of the slots diverge in the same direction as the slots taper in depth.

3. The paddle of claim 1 wherein: the bottoms of the slots diverge in the same'direction as the slots taper in depth; and the spacingbetween the prongs tapers similarly but in the opposite direction. 1 I

The paddle of-claim 1 wherein: 'the 'bla'de includes a central ply. composed of 'a sheet'of veneer of substantially uniform thickness extending substantially throughout the length and width of the blade. and at least one side ply on each side of the central ply; and the-elongated slots are formed in, and substantially'confined to, the side plies with their bottoms diverging in the direction of the; free end of the blade. v

CORNELIUS D. 'DOSKER. 

